Have you made the jump from static stretching to dynamic stretching? I remember distinctly the warm-up routines I went through as a young high school athlete. Nothing but lots of ballistic exercises from jumping jacks to mountain climbs to squat thrusts. All, I might add, to the four-count military cadence. When I hit college, in came the static stretching standard that has been the basis for all warm-up routines for many years now. Now, we have a new, scientifically researched standard that is being promoted as the more effective way to really warm-up and, at the same time, improve power, balance, and flexibility. Welcome to “Dynamic Stretching!”In fact, I just left one of our high school’s summer conditioning sessions where the first activity written on the schedule was “Dynamics.” We are most fortunate in Greenville, South Carolina, to have as a partner to our sports programs the Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas. Their team includes the Acceleration Sports Institute (ASI) and Proaxis Therapy. These two companies, like Steadman Hawkins, are national leaders in their respective fields. The last two workshops we had for our coaches included sessions on dynamic stretching presented by the ASI and Proaxis staffs. These were powerful presentations, with actual demonstrations and video clips of dynamic stretching routines. Suffice it to say that all of our teams have embraced these as the basis for their warm-up routines. To watch our teams come out before a game, and start to do exercises that more closely resemble ballet dancers warming up than athletes getting ready for competition, is quite a site. Dynamic stretching replaces the old static stretching routine of holding each position for ten to thirty seconds for warming up before practices and competitions. Its name, “dynamic,” defines each exercise as requiring some kind of movement. These exercises come with names like “straight-leg march,” “scorpion,” “spider-man walks,” “hand-walks,” “Grouchos” and “butt kicks.” The research on dynamic stretching counters the static method with results showing an increase in overall athletic performance. Many findings indicate that static stretching actually decreases muscle strength (at least temporarily) whereas dynamic stretching increases strength, power, balance and range of motion. Since dynamic exercises require movement, they literally warm the muscles by increasing blood flow significantly.
by: Bill Utsey , Director of Athletics, Greenville County Schools, Greenville SC.
SoccerDroid eMagazine - May 2015